Biggles in the Baltic/plot
Chapter 1: The Call to Arms War has just broken out. Biggles gets a call from Colonel Raymond who offers him command of a secret base on a small rock named Bergen Ait in the Baltic. There he will operate a small strike force of marine aircraft with the mission of causing as much trouble to the enemy as possible. Chapter 2: 'Z' Squadron Takes Over Biggles' unit is called 'Z Squadron' and they are taken to Bergen Ait by submarine. Besides Algy and Ginger, Biggles has taken a small crew, comprising Flight Sergeant Smyth, his son Roy and a naval pensioner named William Salt, nicknamed "Briny" who would be the cook. They decide to name their seaplane aircraft. Ginger calls his the Dingo, Algy's is the Didgeree-du and Biggles' is Willie-willie. A fourth, spare, aircraft is called the Platypus. Chapter 3: First Orders The next morning comes the first orders, to strike an ammunition dump near Kiel. Chapter 4: The Raid That night, the raid by three aircraft is carried out smoothly and they recover to Bergen Ait without harm. Chapter 5: An Unwelcome Visitor Ginger spots crewmen from the U-159 collecting gulls eggs on the rock. They decide to lie low and hope the submarine would go away but Biggles arms his aircraft with armour piercing bombs just in case. The submarine finally leaves but turns back apparently to investigate an oil slick near the rock. Biggles has no choice. They attack the submarine and sink it but Roy tells them the striken vessel managed to send off about three or four words in code before sinking. Chapter 6: A Dangerous Mission That night, Biggles, Algy and Ginger embark on their next mission which is to blow up the railway tunnel at Albeck, on the Hamburg-Berlin line. Algy flies one aircraft at low level as a decoy for the anti-aircraft defences, leaving Biggles and Ginger in a second aircraft free to land relatively unnoticed near the target to plant a bomb in the tunnel. The mission is another success, but on the return flight, Biggles and Ginger hit a fogbank and are forced to put down on the water to wait for it to clear. Chapter 7: Combat! There follows a few harrowing moments when Biggles realises that he has landed in a minefield and then pass close to a German cruiser in the fog. Finally the visibility improves and they make it back to Bergen Ait where Algy is waiting for them. There's an oil slick and lots of flotsam--remnants of the sunken submarine. Among them Biggles discovers a German radio code book. But they hear a Dornier flying boat approaching and he might spot the oil slick too. So Biggles, Algy and Ginger all take off in pursuit of the enemy and succeed in shooting it down. But Ginger's aircraft develops engine trouble and he is forced to land on the water. What with the worsening weather and a German destroyer bearing down on them, Biggles manages to pick Ginger up but is forced to abandon his machine. He manages to set fire to it and take off just in time. Chapter 8: Discoveries They can't find Bergen Ait in the bad weather so they land and beach themselves on a sandbank to wait for things ot improve. Ginger explores and finds a sign board in German. Going further he spots the German liner Leipzig sailing in the channel between the sandbank and the mainland. The weather clears and they return to Bergen Ait but Smyth tells them that Briny is missing. He had taken the motorboat out to look for the aircraft and is overdue. Chapter 9: What Happened to Algy Biggles and Algy set off to search for Briny. They split up--Biggles would fly to the southwest and Algy the southeast. Algy soon spots Briny--he is on the sandbank they were at previously. He tells Algy the Leipzig is aground in the channel and there is large shed on the sandbank. Exploring it, Algy discovers that it is an enemy submarine depot. On the return flight, Algy stops to investigate some wreckage and is dismayed to find that it is the Willie-willie. Biggles has been shot down! Chapter 10: Ginger Goes Exploring Meanwhile Ginger, after a rest, decides to explore the rock. He heads up a fissure at the back of the cave and is surprised that it leads far in and up to a large subterranean lake. Going further he climbs up and emerges onto a ledge on the outside near the top of the rock but now he finds himself stranded without a way down! Chapter 11: What Happened to Biggles Biggles had not had much luck either. After leaving Bergen Ait, he does found Briny's motor boat tied up next to a drifter. Reassured that it flies neutral colours, he lands hoping to pick Briny up but is surprised to find the drifter full of Germans led by none other than von Stalhein. The drifter transfers Biggles to the Leipzig and a mock trial is held for Biggles who is considered a spy. The verdict seems a foregone conclusion but just as the president of the court is about to pronounce the verdict, the ship is struck by a torpedo. Amid the chaos, Biggles jumps for his life and takes a cold swim. Chapter 12: A Cold Swim Biggles swims to the sandbank and is jumped by none other than Algy! Of course it was he who fired the torpedo which sank the Leipzig. Now he had come back to the sandbank again with a timebomb to blow up the shed which Briny found. Chapter 13: An Alarming Discovery They explore Briny's shed and see that it is a large naval depot, probably for submarines. They are about to blow it up but now a large four engine Dornier flying boat lands near the shed. Returning to Algy's aicraft, they find that it has stuck fast in the mud. Chapter 14: Von Stalhein Again Biggles and Algy can't free their aircraft so they steal the German flying boat and return to Bergen Ait. Back at base, Ginger is still missing and so is Smyth and Briny. Roy is exhausted and asleep. Orders come to blow a naval depot near the Gutte channel. That must be the shed they had just left! So Algy goest out to bomb it while Biggles tries to grab some much-needed rest. Biggles is awakened to find von Stalhein's gun pointed at him. He has found Bergen Ait and this time he is not taking chances--he has Biggles marched out to a firing squad of German marines. Chapter 15: Happenings on the Rock But much to von Stalhein's annoyance, he doesn't find the rest of Biggles' crew. Smyth and Briny had gone up the fissure in search of Ginger. Roy woke up just in time and managed to get away with the code books. He also decides to go up the fissure but hits his head after falling and becomes unconscious. Chapter 16: Strange Meetings Ginger, of course, has been stranded all this while on the top of the rock and worse yet, it begins to snow. He hears an aircraft with a sputtering engine which then cuts out. Suddenly the gray form of the aircraft appears near him. Algy is attempting to land at the top of the rock! Ginger grabs a wing and tries to stop its landing run and with his help the aircraft runs to a stop without falling off. Fortunately, Algy's aircraft carries a rope They spot Smyth below and haul him up to look at the engine. Meanwhile Ginger climbs back down into the fissure where he and Briny find Roy. Seeing him with the code books, they suspect something has gone wrong in the cave, so Ginger decides to go and take a look. He arrives in time to see Biggles being lined up in front of the firing squad. Grabbing a Bren gun from the store, he opens fire at the German marines just in time, allowing Biggles to escape. Chapter 17: Reunion Everybody is reunited at the top of the rock. Two German destroyers are steaming towards the rock. Algy still has a time bomb so Biggles makes ready to demolish the base. Chapter 18: Biggles Strikes Back Smyth has fixed Algy's engine so he is sent off with the code books. He must try to reach England or a friendly ship. In the mean time, Biggles detonates the time bomb against the rock wall holding the water in the subterranean lake. The resulting deluge sweeps everyone out of the cave and causes one of the Germans destroyers to ram the drifter and sink. Chapter 19: Marooned on the Rock Meanwhile, Algy spots and is picked up by a British submarine which has sailed in to collect the code book. The submarine torpedoes the second German destroyer. The German survivors at the rock are seen fleeing the scene in lifeboats but Biggles and his crew remain marooned at the top of the rock. Algy sees the Dornier flying boat drifting unharmed nearby so he asks the submarine to drop him there. He flies it over the rock and drops parachutes to the others who then jump off. Everyone is glad to go, except for Briny--but he is finally persuaded to take the plunge on the grounds that he will have a great story to tell. Chapter 20: Home 'Z' squadron makes it home. Biggles is disappointed at losing the base but Raymond is jubilant at the results. There are other bases, he reassures Biggles. He tells Biggles to take a few days leave but not to go too far away--he might be needed again. Category:Plot summaries